Burial vault construction



NOV. 10, 1953 H, mc s 2,658,253

BURIAL VAULT CQNSTRUCTION Filed June 26, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 10, 1953 H. D. RICHARDSON BURIAL VAULT CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 1947 %ar/4My Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE The present invention relates to burial "cases and vaults, and has particular reference to a burial case made of metal and consisting of one, two or more integrally joined vaults.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a burial case which includes integrally joined vaults of metal which are welded together.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burial case having a number of vaults with removable upper sections which form separate com artments over each vault, whereby access to individual vaults is provided with no disturbance to the other vaults. v

Still another object of the invention is to provide a vault which includes combination lifting and anchor plates welded to the ends and adapted to turn to vertical position for lifting and to horizontal position for anchoring the vault in the round. g

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal vault with a cover rim which is welded to the sides and ends of the vault and is recessed to removably receive a metal cover, the metal cover nesting within the rim for permanently welding after a casket has been placed in .the vault.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a burial case having two integrally joined burial vaults, and an additional burial vault welded to the case, the case having removable earth shields mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing base, ends, and one side of one burial vault;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the other side for the vault of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the vault cover, partly broken away to show a depending flange; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cover rim;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing one side and one end of a removable earth shield;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional detail on the line 11 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a wedge element adapted to be welded to the inner surface of the cover rim to receive the depending flange of the associated cover,

3 Claims. (Cl. 27- 35) .It has been found'desirable to increase the capacity of a burialplot, by providing a'burial "case which consists of a number of adjacent vaults which are preferably welded 'together to form an integral construction, whereby a burial plot will accommodate more vaults. To this end, I provide a burial case which consists of one or more adjacent vaults, whereby the case may be positioned in the family plot: the preferred construction'being metal, additional vaults may be added by welding to increase the number as desired. Since the vaults are closely adjacent, I have provided earth shields for permitting access to individual vaults without disturbing the adjacent vaults, by' positioning removable metal parts in vertical alignment with the sides and ends of the vaults, whereby the earth over one vault may be readily removed without disturbing the adjacent vaults. I have further supplied each vault with a removable metal cover, whereby the cover for a particularvault may be removed and replaced after a casket has been placed in the vault, and then welded in place to hermetically seal the vault. T have further provided each vault with hinged side plates which function as lifting straps when vertically positioned to facilitate the lifting andthelowering of the burial case, and which are turned laterally to a horizontal position when the vault is buried, whereby the weight of the earth on the plates anchors the burial case against lifting pressures such as are produced by water infiltration and the like. Additionally, -I have provided the removable shield parts with clean-out openings, whereby any dirt which may accidentally brush or fall on the vault cover before a. casket is placed therein may be quickly brushed out through the clean-out openings.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodimentof the invention, a burial case In is shown in Fig. 1 which includes two adjacent vaults ll, 12, having earth shields I3, [4 removably mounted thereon, and an additional vault 15 which is welded to the side of the vault l2.

Each vault has a base plate l6, side plates l1, l8, and end plates I9, 20, which are integrally joined by welding, the burial case being preferably made as a unit with a partition plate between the two adjacent vaults. Reinforcing channels are positioned intermediate the ends of the end and the side plates, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the channels 2| for the base plate extending across the entire width of the base plate, the channels 22 for the side plates being of less width than the side plates to provide space at the edges, and the channels 23 for the end plates being spaced from the upper edge and extending substantially to the lower edge, angles 24 being provided for the upright corners, and strips 25 for the juncture of the base and side plates, if desired.

A cover rim 2!; is provided for each vault, formed as illustrated in Fig. and in section in Fig. 7, having an upper edge 21, 9. depending outer side edge 28, and an inner angle channel 29, the upper edge 21 sloping down as illustrated and having a recess or depression 30. The cover rim is welded to the upper ends of the side reinforcements 22, the end reinforcements 23, and to the side and end plates, and preferably has wedge-shaped blocks 3|, see Fig. 8, welded to its inner surface as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7.

A cover 32, see Fig. 4, has sloping edges 33 shaped to conform to and seat in the cover rim recess, and has a depending flange 34, sloped to seat against the wedges 3|, whereby a tight seal is obtained when the edges of the cover are welded to the cover rim. Lifting plates 35 are welded to the cover, and have threaded bores 36 into which bolts 31 may be threaded, the bolts having straps 38, whereby the cover is readily lifted and set into place, the bolts and their straps then being removed.

When the burial case is placed in the ground, see Fig. 1. the covers are placed on the cover rims and removably sealed in place, and the earth shields are then set in place by mounting side shields 39 and end shields 40 into Z-shaped lugs 4| which are welded at spaced intervals at the upper edges of the vault sides and ends. The shields each have positioning angles 42 welded thereto, to fit the shield parts together, and their lower corners are cut away as indicated at 43 to provide clean-outs 44, see Fig. 1.

The shields being in place, the earth is replaced along the sides, and the shields filled, the earth preferably extending six inches over the upper edges of the shields. When an interment is made, the top earth is removed, one shield is cleaned out, and the clean-outs are scooped out. The cover is now lifted, and the casket inserted in the vault. The cover is now welded to the cover rim, thus hermatically sealing the vault. During this operation, the surrounding earth is held back by the shield plates, and any loose dirt is quickly swept out through the clean-out openings.

Each vault end is preferably provided with a plate 45, see Fig. 2, which is hinged thereto, the plate having an opening 46. When the plate is in vertical position, it serves as a lifting and lowering plate; when the case or the vault is in place the plate is turned to a horizontal position, whereupon it is held by the earth to function as an anchor for the vault.

The burial case may be made with any number of adjacent vaults, and additional vaults may be readily added by placing such additional vaults in adjacency to the case vaults and welding their lugs 4| together, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Although I have described a specific constructional embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that changes in the size, shape, and arrangement of the parts may be made to suit different burial case and vault requirements, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A metal burial vault construction comprising a base member, side and end members, said side and end members having spaced reinforcing elements on their inner surfaces having their upper ends positioned adjacent to but below the upper edges of the side and end members, a top rim member positioned on the reinforcing elements, said members being welded together, and a cover releasably secured to said top rim member and adapted to be welded thereto, said end members having anchor plates hingedly secured thereto.

2. A metal burial vault construction comprising a plurality of adjacent base members, each base member having a side and end members, a partition member welded to said base members between the adjacent edges thereof and to the contiguous edges of the adjacent end members, and said end members having spaced reinforcement elements having their upper ends positioned adjacent to but below the upper edges of the side and end members, top rim members mounted on said reinforcement elements and welded to said side, end and partition members, and covers releasably secured to said top rim members and adapted to be welded thereto.

3. A metal burial vault construction comprising a base member, sides and ends, and a cover, said sides and ends having spaced upstanding lugs at their upper edges, and shield plates positioned in parallel alignment to the sides and ends and removably mounted in said lugs.

HENRY D. RICHARDSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 20,095 Shuler Apr. 27, 1858 201,936 Mooers Apr. 2, 1878 227,257 Irion May 4, 1880 361,518 Heuchan et a1 Apr. 19, 1887 771,606 Brown Oct. 4, 1904 792,510 Folk June 13, 1905 872,740 McKenzie Dec. 3, 1907 1,768,146 Ramey June 24, 1930 2,221,177 Berenson et a1. Nov. 1 1940 2.433,788 Schade Dec. 30, 1947 

